Standing in the Rain
by mariejamil
Summary: Juvia is missing from the guild and a large rainstorm is pouring over Magnolia. Gray sets off to ensure her safety, but what he discovers may shake his understanding of his own heart. Will the ice mage be able to break through his cold exterior and come to terms with his own feelings, or will he lose Juvia forever? A GrayxJuvia story with NatsuxLucy and slight GajeelxLevy.
1. Chapter 1-Missing

Standing in the Rain

Chapter 1- Missing

It was a normal day at the guild. Well, as normal as a day could be at Fairy Tail. Cana was chugging down a barrel of sake. Nab was standing in front of the request board, not actually thinking of taking a job of course. Gajeel was chewing on some iron scraps and staring across the room at Levy who was too engrossed in a book to be aware of his gaze. Mirajane was polishing drinking glasses behind the bar counter and Elfman was in a heated argument with Evergreen about being a "man".

Despite the usual shenanigans of the guild members, the mood was mellow considering no all-out brawls had started yet. Part of the reason for this was that it had been raining hard for most of the day so far and most of the reason, was that Natsu had not arrived at the guild yet. Everyone pretty much figured that chaos would ensue once Natsu busted through the guild doors and attempted to challenge everyone to a fight, starting with Gray who would somehow start an argument with him. However, a certain ice mage was in no mood to fight, or actually even deal with anyone at the moment. He had been feeling very troubled since this morning, and not because he was greeted by an overly-passionate "OHAYOU GRAY-SAMA~" from a blue-haired water mage when he arrived at the guild, or because he felt a pair of eyes following him and watching his every movement as he walked around or even because said water mage had managed to attach herself to his hip. No, Gray was feeling uneasy because none of above had happened. These actions by Juvia were so ordinary to the ice mage that when he wasn't followed around by Juvia or given a bento lunchbox from her this morning he felt uneasy.

_Where is she?_ Gray thought. _I don't remember her telling me she was going on a mission, she usually always tells me when she is leaving the guild-not that I care or anything-but it's strange that she isn't here. There isn't a single morning where she hasn't greeted me. I hope nothing is wrong with her. _Gray mentally face-palmed. _Why do I care so much what she is doing or where she is? I should be happy that she isn't here doing her crazy antics._

At that moment, the guild doors were kicked open and brief hope flashed across Gray's face before it set to a scowl as a happy-looking Natsu busted in with a not-so-happy-looking Lucy running after him.

"Natsu! How many times have I told you not to sneak into my bed in the middle of the night?!" She fumed.

He just grinned at her, "Oh Come on Luceee" he whined, "your bed is so much comfier than mine and it smells so good!"

With that he walked off in Gray's general direction leaving a blushing Lucy standing near the door who was trying to remain angry but failing miserably and stuttering incoherent gibberish.

"Oi Gray, teme, what are you glaring at with that stupid face?" Natsu yelled walking towards the bar and ready to start a fight. Gray just stared contemptibly at Natsu and ignored him. "Droopy eyes, you deaf or something?". Gray would usually have started hurling insults at Natsu by this point, but his mind was too focused elsewhere. The heavy rain that had been pouring all morning reminded him of Juvia and he wondered if she was causing it. _Maybe I should try to go find her_, he thought. He pushed past Natsu and headed out of the guild causing most of the guild members to stop what they were doing and gape. Natsu insulted Gray and Gray didn't even respond? What had the world come to? Natsu seemed pretty confused as well but Mirajane smiled with knowing eyes. She had an idea of why Gray was feeling so unsettled and was overly curious about how long it would take for him to come to terms with his feelings for Juvia.


	2. Chapter 2- You took the Rain Away

Standing in the Rain

Chapter 2- You Took the Rain Away

Gray was wandering around Magnolia not exactly sure where he was going. He had left the guild in a hurry to find Juvia after his worry had finally outweighed his pride. He wasn't going to check on her because he returned her feelings or anything, he reasoned, she was only his _nakama_, he would do this for any friend. As he walked the streets aimlessly with no clue of where to look for her after checking her room at Fairy Hills he was getting soaked to the bone by water pellets that were relentlessly pouring out of the sky.

_Great_, he complained to himself, _I'm out here in the rain and she's probably fine_. He knew though that she wasn't fine. He couldn't tell how he knew, he just felt it. He had already walked through much of the town, so he decided to check the open area by the pond just on the outskirts. As he approached, the rain suddenly slowed from its torrent to a light drizzle. It was warmer too, and almost… salty? As he was in the middle of deciding what it meant, he finally arrived at the park and as he felt the last drop of rain hit his face he saw her. She was sitting on the park bench staring out at the little pond in front of her that had filled up due to the storm.

_What the hell?_ He thought. _Was she causing this storm?_ _What is she doing out here?_

He walked up behind her and the noise of his feet crunching on fallen leaves caused her to whip her head around in his direction. He noticed her wipe her eyes quickly and then she looked him straight in the face.

"Gray-sama?" she questioned, sounding slightly surprised.

"Hey Juvia, I just umm noticed you weren't at the g-g-guild this morning so I came to see if you were o-okay, you know, because you're my friend". He added that last part quickly so she wouldn't get the wrong idea. Everyone knew that she had a wild imagination, especially when it came to him, and he didn't want her to start planning the wedding. _So much for trying to play it cool_, he thought.

"Oh, Gray-sama is always so considerate towards his nakama. He really is a kind person."

"Huh?..oh umm thanks?" He wasn't sure what to make of the fact that she hadn't swooned when he said he was worried about her.

"Juvia-"

"No need to say anything Gray-sama, Juvia knows what it is you want to say"

She did? He was just going to ask what was troubling her, it was obvious to him that she was sad for some reason.

"Yes, and Juvia has decided to stop pestering Gray-sam- Gray-san with her declarations of love. She knows that she may be annoying to Gray-san and she has embarrassed him many times and Juvia does not wish for Gray-san to see Juvia as a freak."

Gray was staring out her in shock. _She knows that her random public declarations are_ _embarrassing and annoying and she is going to stop being all over me? _He feels he should be happy about this but cannot seem to understand the pain in his heart at the idea of not having Juvia around him all the time. Not to mention he may think that she is a little weird but he never thought that she herself was annoying or that she was a freak and he wanted to let her know that and ask why she even thought that in the first place.

"Juvia, I don't think you are a freak" he started "and I don't think of you as an annoy-"

"It's ok Gray-san, you don't have to pretend for Juvia's sake. Don't make this harder for Juvia by lying to her to make her feel better" she said sadly as she stood up from the bench and walked in front of him, effectively cutting him off and shutting him up.

"But" he looks up at her "Juvia will always love Gray-sama, because he took away her rain and showed her the beauty of the sun for the very first time" she said softly, then she turned and walked away.

Gray, who was too stunned to even understand what had just happened, just stared after her.


	3. Chapter 3-Inner Turmoil

Standing in the Rain

Chapter 3- Inner Turmoil

Juvia was sitting on the same park bench all morning being assailed by the constant droplets of water falling from the stormy sky. The heaven's torrent was mimicking the torment in her heart. For hours she had been feeling conflicted and had been trying to figure out what she should do and her lack of control over the swirling vortex of emotions inside of her was causing the storm that hung over Magnolia.

She had always known that her love towards her beloved Gray-sama was unrequited, but that didn't make her feel any better now. During the Grand Magic Games she had overheard numerous spectators making fun of her public displays of affection. They said that it was obvious the ice mage had no interest in her since he either seemed embarrassed by her actions or outright ignored them. Many people called her a freak and said they heard she was a stalker. Of course, Juvia didn't let their comments go straight to her heart. These people didn't know her, and she had found a place in Fairy Tail where they accepted her. Fairy Tail was her home, and she was sure that they didn't think this way about her. At least that was what she had thought until yesterday evening.

Juvia had been sitting at the bar talking with Levy, Lucy, Erza and Mira, but she was secretly watching her Gray-sama who was sitting at a table across the room with his back turned to her surrounded by various guild members. She heard someone mention her name so she perked her ears up and strained her hearing to catch the conversation, hoping she would hear Gray say something wonderful about her or their future together.

"Oi Gray, how are things going with Juvia?" Macao asked.

"Yeah, the girl's all over you, when are you gonna make a move?" Wakaba added.

Gray groaned. "She is just a friend, nothing more" he said simply and firmly.

"Riiiight, so are you too shy to ask her out? Or is it that you are too dense to notice how much you like her?"

"Look! I don't like Juvia. There is nothing going on between us and there never will be ok?" he said rather loudly causing a few people at nearby tables to look over at him for a second before continuing their previous conversations.

"Well I guess I could see why you may not wanna go out with her since she smothers you all the time."

"Yeah, I mean those over-the-top displays must get a little annoying."

"Yeah", Gray laughed, "she can be pretty weird."

Juvia's heart constricted painfully. A million different thoughts came flooding into her head.

_Weird? Gray-sama thinks Juvia is weird? He finds Juvia's love annoying? Gray-sama is angry at the thought of being with Juvia and he will never love her?_

It was one thing to know that the one who held her heart did not love her _yet,_ because Juvia always thought if she tried hard enough to prove her affection for him, he would eventually return her feelings. But hearing from his own lips that he never wanted to be with Juvia, that he thought she was too clingy and that her ways of showing him she cared were strange and annoying, she just couldn't handle it. Juvia quickly stood up before any of the girls noticed her predicament and slipped through the guild doors.

_Juvia is probably over-thinking Gray-sama's words. She must have heard wrong, or misunderstood, Yes, Juvia will go home, take a bath to clear her head and go to sleep. _

After Juvia's bath, that was supposed to give her clarity, she only felt more confused. She kept remembering all of the people who said the same things about her at the Grand Magic Games so she decided to go straight to bed but kept hearing voices in her head, laughing at her in her sleep.

"He probably just tolerates her because he feels bad for her, I pity him having to put up with her all the time".

"Yeah, I mean he practically can't move without her literally attaching herself to his hip or embarrassing him in public".

When she woke up from her restless sleep, she was a total mess. The spectator's taunting her, her guild members poking fun at her, Gray-sama saying he would never love her. That was all that had filled her head the previous night.

She walked to the park bench by the pond on the outskirts of town and tried to figure out her emotions. She was definitely hurt by the ice-mages words, and despite the warnings she felt in her heart about listening to those random people from other guilds, she couldn't help but come to the conclusion that Gray must feel the same way they said he did.

Juvia didn't know that her ways of showing how much she cared for Gray were weird. Growing up, love wasn't something that was very present in her life. She was very lonely and lived a gloomy and solitary childhood. When Gray opened the clouds and showed her clear skies for the first time, she couldn't help but feel a connection with him. Her emotions only grew after she joined Fairy Tail and saw first hand just how strong and kind Gray was. He was determined and caring and he would never let anyone hurt his nakama. She began to admire so many things about him and before she knew it, her crush on him due to his good looks had turned into a deep love stemming from the fact that it was because of him she had finally found a home.

Since she was never really able to interact with others until she met Gray, she didn't know how else to show him she cared for him than what she had been doing. She made him lunches, she encouraged him, she named her attacks after him and always worried about his safety and well being. Yes, she may have followed him a few times in the beginning, but that was only because she wanted to know more about him. She had never thought of the possibility that these acts were embarrassing or frustrating to him, because for her, showing the world that she loved Gray was exhilarating. Now that she thought about it though, she realized that maybe Gray really was only nice to her because he didn't want to hurt her feelings. Maybe the man she loved didn't really want her to be around him.

The other side of her fought back against this negativity.

_But Juvia is a Fairy Tail mage, she can't just quit_, she reasoned. _If Juvia gives up showing Gray-sama how much he means to her then she will be betraying her feelings for him and she can never betray him. Not to mention if she just gives up on spending time with Gray-sama, her love rival may try to take the opportunity to snatch him up. _

After fighting this inner war with herself for half of the day, she finally reached the conclusion that Gray's happiness was of utmost importance to her, and if her actions made him unhappy, she would have to stop them for the time being. It would take a lot of strength to stay away from her Gray-sama and stop showering him with her attention, but if it meant Gray would be better off, she knew she could do anything.

When she finally made peace with her decision she allowed herself to shed a few silent tears because of Gray's hurtful words and her current situation. Before joining the guild Juvia would not cry; the constant raindrops surrounding her were the tears that Juvia was not brave enough to shed. But after meeting her family at Fairy Tail she realized that crying did not mean she was weak. She knew it would help her feel better and after this one time she resolved to keep her head high and stick to her decision without regret.

The skies mimicked the new-found clarity and determination within Juvia and the torrent of rain decreased gradually. As the last droplets of rain fell they turned warm and salty resembling the few teardrops she allowed to roll down her cheeks. She heard a noise and turned her head suddenly only to find the object of her worry and confusion standing before her. He looked utterly handsome to her as always. He had of course lost his shirt somewhere along the way due to his stripping habit that she didn't really mind and the rain had left droplets all over his body that were now glistening. His jet black hair was plastered to his forehead and neck and his eyes seemed like they were piercing into her very soul. She thought she had never seen something quite so breathtaking but quickly wiped her eyes, not wanting Gray to see that she was upset, and tried to shake those thoughts from her head.

"Gray-sama?" she questioned, sounding slightly surprised.

"Hey Juvia, I just umm noticed you weren't at the g-g-guild this morning so I came to see if you were o-okay, you know, because you're my friend".

Juvia had allowed herself to hope for one second when she realized Gray was stuttering and had been looking for her all day because he was worried about her but then she heard the last part and her hope quickly deflated. _That's Right_, Juvia thought, _Gray-sama only wants to have Juvia as a friend._

"Oh, Gray-sama is always so considerate towards his nakama. He really is a kind person."

"Huh?..oh umm thanks?" He seemed unsure to Juvia who thought maybe he did not like receiving her compliment, causing her to remember what she had just decided.

"Juvia-" Gray started.

"No need to say anything Gray-sama, Juvia knows what it is you want to say". She is sure now that Gray has come to finally tell her himself that he doesn't want her to be around him anymore. That is why he was stuttering before, he was nervous because he didn't want to hurt her feelings.

"Yes, and Juvia has decided to stop pestering Gray-sam- Gray-san with her declarations of love. She knows that she may be annoying to Gray-san and she has embarrassed him many times and Juvia does not wish for Gray-san to see Juvia as a freak."

She had to stop herself from using her usual Gray-sama because as a nakama she should only address him as Gray-san. The honorific –sama was her way of quietly saying _I love You_ whenever she spoke to him.

"Juvia, I don't think you are a freak" he started "and I don't think of you as an annoy-"

Juvia remembers what everyone said about Gray being nice to her when she embarrassed him because he felt too bad about not returning her feelings. He was too kind of a person to tell her to stop, but now she didn't want him to have to pretend any more for her.

"It's ok Gray-san, you don't have to pretend for Juvia's sake. Don't make this harder for Juvia by lying to her to make her feel better" she said sadly as she stood up from the bench and walked in front of him, effectively cutting him off and shutting him up.

"But" She started as he looked up at her.. She knew that this may be her last chance to actually confess her true feelings to Gray. Not by giving him things or fawning over him, but just by simply telling him, so she allowed herself to use his special honorific one more time as she admits to Gray the depth of her admiration for him. Her heart skipped a beat as she looked into his eyes.

"Juvia will always love Gray-sama, because he took away her rain and showed her the beauty of the sun for the very first time" she said softly, then she turned and walked away.

The pain she felt at that moment was unbearable, but she was proud of herself for staying firm for Gray's happiness. For now, she would head back to her room at Fairy Hills and tomorrow she decided to go to the guild and pick a job to take her mind off of everything.


	4. Chapter 4-Lost in Thought

Standing in the Rain

Chapter 4- Lost In Thought

After staring dumbly at Juvia's retreating figure for what seemed like forever, Gray finally came to his senses. He wanted to go after her but didn't know what he could say at the moment since his mind was completely blank, so instead he went to the guild to see if any of the girls knew anything.

As he walked, he reviewed his conversation with Juvia probably over one hundred times. He wasn't sure what he had done in order for her to come to the conclusions that she did, but he knew that she was in pain and it hurt. His heart was hurting. He couldn't figure out why he was having such a strong reaction, but the image of her tear-streaked face was haunting him.

Her voice was echoing in his head. "Juvia will always love Gray-_sama._"

_She loves me?_

He knew she had a thing for him; she never tried to hide it. But he had always pushed her feelings aside as an infatuation or a simple crush. He did this for his own benefit really; if her feelings were not serious he didn't need to worry about justifying them with a response.

When Gray arrived at the guild he walked straight to the bar where Lucy was sitting on a stool drinking a milkshake and talking to Mira. He figured he would ask them first since Juvia had been sitting and talking with them yesterday.

"Hey, guys did you notice anything weird about Juvia the last time you saw her?" he questioned quietly not wanting the rest of the guild to hear and start making fun of him.

Lucy looked over at him "Hey, Gray! No. I don't remember her acting any differently, and she didn't mention anything to us. Why, is something wrong?"

"Well I noticed that she was missing from the guild this morning, and it was raining really hard, so I thought there might be something wrong with her and went to check on her."

Mira and Lucy both looked like they were about to start freaking out over how cute it was or how he and Juvia should be a couple, so he shot them a look to shut them up and continued in a hushed tone.

"But when I finally found her I could tell she had been crying. I tried to figure out what was wrong, but she just told me that she was going to stop hanging all over me because she didn't want to be annoying and walked away without letting me say anything."

The knowing smiles quickly fell from their faces. A dark aura began to surround the take-over mage who looked like she was about to go into Satan Soul, and Gray backed away.

"Gray Fullbuster, what did you do!?"

"Nothing!" he answered immediately, trying to put more distance between Mira and himself.

"Then why was Juvia crying and saying you thought she was annoying?"

"That's what I am trying to figure out! I came to you guys first because I know Juvia was sitting over here for a while yesterday, and she was fine yesterday morning, so I figured something must have happened when she was with you."

"You know she was sitting here for a while?" Lucy asked mischievously. "So you were watching her?"

His face started to heat up. "No of course I wasn't watching her!" he defended. "I just happened to notice."

Now that he thought about it though, he had been just happening to notice where Juvia was most of the day every day since they returned from the Grand Magic Games. Had he been watching her? _No of course not, _he rationalized to himself. _Juvia is just always around me; it makes sense that I knew where she was._

He groaned. Since this morning, troublesome thoughts had been swirling non-stop in his mind, and now his head was starting to hurt. He kept seeing images of Juvia, her long blue hair cascading down her back, her beautiful smile as she called out to him. Wait, beautiful smile? Did he think she was cute? Sure, but since when had he thought of Juvia as beautiful? Usually he didn't have such a hard time keeping cool and controlled. He wasn't overly emotional, and he never allowed himself to display deep feelings towards someone else beyond friendship. It was almost as if he had a layer of ice surrounding his heart that kept people from getting too close to him.

"You know, Gray there is nothing wrong with feeling something for Juvia" Lucy said as if she had somehow read his mind.

"What do you mean?" he asked, hoping he hadn't said that beautiful comment out loud.

"You are always defensive, and you try to deny that there is anything between the two of you, but it is obvious you are feeling distressed over this" Mirajane added sympathetically.

"Love is a beautiful bond that brings people closer together."

"L-l-love?!" he sputtered. _No way. There is no way I love Juvia, is there?_

Mirajane, sensing his discomfort, tried to help him out. As the (self-proclaimed) resident matchmaker at Fairy Tail, she would make sure to get those two together. It was obvious to her that the two held feelings for one another; Gray was just too dense and scared to admit it.

"Yes, you seem really worried about her, and you have always taken great care to protect her. More importantly, did you say anything to Juvia or about her yesterday?" She asked.

"No, I didn't talk to her after the morning when she was flooding the guild with tears because I had been away on a mission for too long. Although…there was that one point in the afternoon…" he trailed off.

"What one point in the afternoon?" Mirajane was turning into a demon again.

"Well a whole bunch of the people from the guild had surrounded me and were nagging me about Juvia . Of course I denied that we were together, but when they kept pressing I…"

"You what?" Lucy questioned, impatiently.

Then it dawned on him, and he remembered what he yelled out yesterday.

"I kind of said that I would never be with Juvia and agreed that her antics were weird and a little annoying," he finished quietly.

"What? Why did you do that?" Mirajane fumed. She was getting scarier by the second, and Gray started backing away from the bar counter again.

"Well I just wanted them to leave me alone about it. I was hoping they would move on to talk about something else" he answered sheepishly.

"Honestly, Gray. No wonder she said she would leave you alone. You probably really hurt her feelings. Sure she can be a little over the top, but I think that she really likes you and just doesn't know how else to show it," Lucy scolded.

"Yes, I'm sure you are going to apologize to her tomorrow and make this situation all better right?" Mira asked with a smile that said _If you don't, I will kill you_.

"Y-yes" he squeaked out. He was going to apologize anyway, but Mira was damn scary.

Lucy rubbed his back, "Don't worry Gray, I'm sure it will all work out, and maybe after this you and Juvia can be a real couple!" she said happily.

He rolled his eyes. He wanted to apologize, of course, because a sad Juvia meant an unhappy Gray, but he still didn't know if he even liked Juvia, much less if he wanted to be in a relationship with her.

Meanwhile, a pink-haired dragon slayer, who had been attempting to start a fight with Gajeel ever since Gray had left to look for Juvia, stopped what he was doing and looked over to the bar. Lucy had been talking with Gray for a while and now she was rubbing his back. He didn't know why, but he was getting this strange feeling in his chest.

"Hey, Ice Bastard, fight me!" he yelled as he walked across the guild.

"Not now Natsu" Lucy said sternly motioning towards Gray who was lost in thought.

"What's wrong? Afraid you're gonna lose?"

Gray just ignored Natsu and kept trying to make sense of his feelings for Juvia. Lucy was staring at him sympathetically.

"C'mon Lucy!" Natsu grabbed her arm and glared at Gray. "Let's go home for the day, it's boring here."

"Eh?" Lucy looked down at the hand on her arm but was dragged out of her seat by Natsu before she could react.

"Oh! So you two go home together to the same house?" Mira asked. Before Lucy had the chance to answer, Natsu had already pulled her out of the guild.

"You could go easier on him, ya know? He's having a hard time with Juvia" Lucy said as she walked, balancing herself on the ledge next to the river.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Natsu asked walking along side her.

"Wouldn't you be worried if someone you cared about was sad or had something bad happen to them?" she asked him.

"Oh, you mean like you, Lucy?" he asked looking up at her and smiling.

Lucy face turned into a tomato. "S-sure" she managed. _Does he know what he's saying? _The fact that Natsu thought of her first as one of his important people made her feel a little giddy inside, but she tried to hide it. Natsu just kept walking with his hands behind his head as if he had said the most natural thing in the world, completely oblivious to the effect his comment had on her.

"I guess if it's like that I feel a little bad for ice breath," he mumbled, "but just a little".

Lucy smiled. She knew that even though they fought a lot, Gray and Natsu really cared about each other.

_Natsu really is dense _she thought to herself. _He always says comments that make it seem like he cares about me as more than a friend, but I'm pretty sure he isn't capable of those kinds of feelings. He sees everyone as a nakama._

As she was thinking, she lost her concentration and fell into the river. Natsu was quick to jump in after her but just got motion sickness from the waves and had to be saved himself. Lucy grabbed him and swam over to the edge. She pushed him up and then tried to climb up herself. When she attempted to use her one foot against the wall to push the rest of her body up she felt immense pain and realized she must have sprained her ankle. Natsu grabbed her arms and pulled her out.

"Lucy, you are really weird to randomly fall into the river like that."

"Don't call me weird!" she whined at him. "Anyway, thanks for trying to help me."

"Of course, I'm always going to protect you" Natsu said seriously.

This elicited another blush from Lucy causing Natsu to place his hand on her forehead.

"Are you ok, Lucy? You're turning all red."

"I'm fine, Nastu. I'm just going to go home now" she said as she stumbled to get up. _Thank Mavis this guy's an idiot, _she smiled to herself, _but he's a lovable idiot._

"Lucy, smiling like that is scary" Natsu said. She hit him on the arm and tried to walk away angrily, but her sprained ankle caused her to limp.

He ran over to her and picked her up.

"What are you doing? Put me down I can walk myself!"

"No you can't, you hurt yourself. I'll just carry you to your apartment."

When Natsu finally got there, he jumped up and brought Lucy into her apartment through the window.

"Use the door!" she yelled as he placed her on the bed and then went into the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" Lucy called to him.

"I'm going to make some food for us since you hurt your foot" he said leaning against the kitchen entrance.

_Can he even cook? _she thought to herself. She couldn't tell him no though because he was smiling with so much excitement.

"Ok" she gave in and waited to see what Natsu could cook.

Two smoke alarms later, Natsu presented Lucy with something black that she couldn't identify on a plate.

"Here's dinner!" he smiled so wide he was barring his fangs at her.

_Do I really have to eat this? _she thought before looking up at his hope-filled eyes. _Crap. I can't say no to eating it with that face he is giving me. _Then she thought of an idea.

"Natsu? Where's Happy? Did you just leave him at the guild earlier without even telling him you would be gone?"

Natsu's jaw dropped. "Oh no! Happyyy!" He wailed dramatically running in circles. "I'm coming for you!"

He turned to run out of the door but then stopped and looked at Lucy.

"If your leg is feeling better let's go on a job tomorrow ok?"

"Ok! Maybe I can ask Gray and Erza if they want to come to!"

She didn't see the flicker of disappointment in his eyes at that statement before he smiled back at her. "Yosh, I'm all fired up!" he yelled before speeding off.

Gray had walked home after his conversation with Lucy and Mira. He decided that as soon as Juvia came into the guild in the morning he would apologize to her and make it clear that he did not think she was annoying or a bother.

To be honest, he had actually grown to like and expect her homemade _bentos _and special words of encouragement; he just didn't want to admit to anyone else, especially not himself. He kept thinking about what Lucy said to him. It was true that he always saw love as an unnecessary part of his life. He had blocked his heart off after having so many people he cared about taken away from him. First, his village was attacked by the demon Deliora and he lost his family and everyone he cared for at one time. Then when Ur took him in and taught him ice magic, he had begun to love her too, though he wouldn't admit it because he was too consumed with revenge, and in the end she died by the same demon that killed his parents. Every person he had loved had died, and it had caused him so much pain that he decided to never let people have that kind of effect on him again. Ever since Juvia had come around though, he had felt a certain spark within himself. It wasn't immediate. It just grew overtime without him even really noticing it.

When Laxus had forced the guild members to fight one another, he heard how Juvia had attacked a lacrima and injured herself so Cana could move on from the barrier and had felt inspired and proud. When they were in Edolas, he kept thinking of how he had to save Juvia and how he couldn't let her be killed, even though there were many other people who were in danger besides her. On Tenrou Island, he had been outraged when he saw her injured and unconscious, even more so than he usually would be when seeing a _nakama _in danger. In Crocus, he had agreed to go out to lunch with her when he was asked "because he was hungry" even though he knew it was a date and had been pissed when Lyon interrupted and tried to take Juvia away. He had even accidentally shouted that Juvia was his.

Usually he would just push these emotions aside after the incident was over and lock the memory of them away, but they came to the forefront during the Grand Magic Games when Erza confronted him about Juvia's feelings and his own. He hadn't known what to say. He knew she was right. Juvia deserved an answer, but he had been conflicted because he didn't want to tell her that he felt nothing for her, but he also didn't want to say that he liked her when he was purposely pushing those feelings aside and diminishing their value. Then he had performed a unison raid with Juvia to defeat Lyon and Chelia, and their magic had combined so perfectly it felt almost _natural_. Afterwards their hands were still intertwined, and he had asked Juvia why she didn't let go. Lying in his bed now thinking about it though, a better question would be why didn't he let go? Sure her grip was strong, but not strong enough that he couldn't get out of it. The real reason he hadn't let go, was because he liked the way her hand felt in his own. Then when the dragons had attacked he had been so concerned for her safety, but as soon as the situation was over he tried to forget any moments he had with her and any connection he had felt.

Gray rubbed his temples and sighed. Why was this so hard for him? Thinking about the past he could obviously tell that Juvia was important to him. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that Juvia has been holding a special place in his heart. She had been slowly melting the ice barrier that kept him from getting close to others, and he was the one who was being stupid for not realizing that he cared about her.

His eyes widened at this realization. He. Cared. About. Juvia. He had finally admitted it to himself. A smile grew on his face. Tomorrow he would definitely try to explain everything to her before it was too late and she gave up on him.


End file.
